Former Bayou La Batre police officer arrested on sex abuse charges: Mobile DA
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated to include quotes from Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood along with facts of the case.
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — A former Bayou La Batre police officer has been arrested on multiple sexual abuse charges, according to the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office.
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38-year-old William “BJ” Squires was arrested on Nov. 12 after the DA’s office secured secret indictments from a Mobile County jury, with the warrants being executed Tuesday morning.
The grand jury indicted Squires for first-degree forceful rape, second-degree rape of a victim between 12 and 16 years old, sexual abuse by force and second-degree sexual abuse of a victim between 12 and 16 years old.
According to Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood, the result in his arrest came from an incident from 2005 where he allegedly had sex with a 14-year-old girl when he was 19.
“I just want to encourage anybody that might be watching it out in the community,” Blackwood said. “It doesn’t matter how long it’s been. If there’s something that you feel like you need to report to our office or to law enforcement, we want anyone that may be a victim out in the community to do that specifically.”
Squires was the subject of online controversy after people made allegations about him on social media about inappropriate conduct.
The online controversy prompted the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office to raid Squires’ home in September.
Even though MCSO led the raid, Blackwood explained that Squires’ charges from Tuesday are separate from the sheriff’s office’s investigation.
“This did not come out of the search,” Blackwood explained. “The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating aspects of B.J. Squire’s past, especially as a police officer.”
Squires was eventually let go from the Bayou La Batre Police Department in October, and the mayor told WKRG that his termination was due to “behavior unbecoming of a police officer.”
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Squires’ bond was set at $110,000, and a court date has not yet been set.
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